Matt Moore here, the host of the daily Locked On Nuggets podcast, with your daily Locked On Nuggets newsletter. Each day we bring you the biggest stories about the Nuggets and the NBA, including the hottest links to other stories you need to read. Plus, Josh Lloyd delivers daily fantasy notes to crush your league.
No Joke? Nuggets Prepare To Start NBA Cup Play
Nov 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) calls out in the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images|Ron Chenoy/Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The Nuggets begin NBA Cup play Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans, but they might be without the reigning MVP.
Nikola Jokic was downgraded to questionable due to personal reasons. Without speculating on the nature of the potential absence, missing Jokic for the first game, a near-gimme vs. the Pelicans who are missing four of their top six players would be devastating for Denver’s chances of reaching Vegas for the knockout rounds.
We’ll see whether Jokic is available for Friday’s game. In the meantime, here’s what Swipa and Ryan said on the latest episode of Locked on Nuggets.
The NBA Cup: Excitement and Expectations
Swiper: “The NBA has worked very hard to push this brand-new product… They were looking at the Champions League across the pond, and they were like, ‘You know what? We need some of that.’”
Ryan Blackburn: “If the Nuggets have the best record and the best point differential out of that group, then they will advance to Las Vegas… and try to claim an NBA Cup.”
Nuggets’ Road Ahead: Pelicans and Beyond
Swiper: “This should be a real opportunity to continue this win streak… The Denver Nuggets, per FanDuel… are currently a minus 8.5 favorite, and it could go up.”
Ryan Blackburn: “Denver’s got to be focused. They have to put their pedal to the metal, and hopefully with four days off, they’re as rested as they can be.”
Michael Malone’s Legacy in Denver
Swiper: “He has been, for me, the best coach in franchise history. He’s delivered a title… developed Joker, Jamal, Michael Porter Jr.… I mean, you name it.”
Ryan Blackburn: “When you’re on the same team for ten years and he has been great while he has been here… Michael Malone is as synonymous with this era of Nuggets basketball as anybody not named Jokic.”
Around the League: NBA Standouts
Swiper: “Giannis had 59 in overtime… Victor Wembanyama, 50 points on 8 of 16 from three… The NBA is in a good place.”
Ryan Blackburn: “Shaden Sharpe, one of the best putbacks you’ll see all year… It’s been really impressive, man. I think the NBA is in a good place.”
A Winning Culture Under Malone
Ryan Blackburn: “The Nuggets have adopted his personality… They never say die. They don’t make excuses. They put their heads down and work.”
Swiper: “Malone continues to prove proof of concept. Every year… You’re winning over and above the amount of games you have.”
I held off on writing about the apparent rash, or rise, of early-season athlete injuries because there’s always some recency bias involved when the subject comes up. Are there really more injuries this year than any other? Do we have the data to support it? Is there a new, underlying cause? Or are injuries due to the same compounding mix of bad luck and the NBA’s 82-game schedule running into a long postseason, running into the offseason, running back into a brand new long regular season and the erosion of bodies this eventually leads to?
A report early this week showed early-season injuries were up 35%, and indeed ESPN’s list of injuries, at a glance, looks like a ferocious Christmas tree, lit up in blazing reds and yellows. A handful of teams (the Grizzlies, Pelicans, Raptors) are cobbling together rosters game-to-game depending on who’s still healthy. TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott ran a draft of the injured list this week and each team reads like an All-Star squad on steroids, and when Abbott printed out the league’s official injury report it was 10 pages long.
Injuries are definitely up — but why?
The Paris Olympics proved extra playing time for a few top-tier stars, but most of them remain healthy. The early season schedule hasn’t served up any more back-to-backs to longer road game stretches, which tend to be more gruelling on athletes, than usual. However, when everything appears to be normal and the bodily price is anything but, perhaps it’s time to examine that “normal”.
The NBA’s current schedule of 82 games was adopted in 1967. Already, I’m sure your brain is picturing black and white basketball, that’s good. When you picture that grainy, glitchy footage, how fast is it going? The reality is that the game used to be a lot slower. Not just in its mechanics (think of an offensive passing sequence, the ball flipping from set of hands to hands at a speed that can be hard to follow), but the athleticism too. Bodies were moving slower. The game was still physical — the trope of players from the 80s and 90s complaining about the “softness” of current athletes is a trope for a reason — but full tilt sprinting, cutting, complex rotations, these weren’t the norm. Given that, the bodily mechanics were different. Guys weren’t stopping on a dime, pivoting hard, having to force their ligaments and muscles and bones into exacting motions with all sorts of volatile force behind them.
Katie Heindl is a credentialed NBA and WNBA writer, her bylines have appeared with The New York Times Magazine, SLAM, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Dime, Rolling Stone, among others. She writes the bestselling Substack, Basketball Feelings and is working on a book of the same name.
Analysis A former NBA champion had some harsh words for Jamal Murray, raising eyebrows with his candid assessment. (Sports Illustrated)
Fans After five years of carriage disputes and unexpected blackouts, Nuggets fans are running out of patience when it comes to watching their team. (Denver Stiffs)
Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Replay: Navigating the injury bug
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) holds his leg after a hard following a play against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Paycom Center.|Photo by Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
This week in the fantasy basketball world has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. A major talking point has been Chet Holmgren’s unfortunate injury, which has fantasy managers scrambling for replacements as the Oklahoma City Thunder adjust with potential lineup changes. Keep an eye on players like Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace — who might see increased minutes — and consider them as temporary pickups in deeper leagues.
Don’t let these episodes pass you by — stay locked in with the latest Locked On Nuggets podcasts.
Nuggets UPSET Thunder As Russell Westbrook Dominates And The Kids Run Wild Matt Moore breaks down how the pace Denver played with changed the game, how Jokic’s aggression kept OKC off balance, and how Denver got a huge win over their division rival.
Locked On Nuggets POSTCAST: Jokic, Westbrook and the kids lead Nuggets to upset vs. Thunder Aniello Piro breaks down the incredible Nuggets-Thunder game on tonight’s Locked On Nuggets POSTCAST.
Can Nuggets stand together without AG? Matt and Ryan go over the big picture of Aaron Gordon’s injury, discuss the next few weeks of Nuggets basketball, and preview tonight’s game against OKC.
